


Changes

by Baileys



Series: What Family's For [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Angst, Episode Tag, Family, Father-Son Relationship, Friendship, Gen, Season/Series 11, The Witness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-05
Updated: 2016-03-05
Packaged: 2018-05-24 22:53:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6169898
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Baileys/pseuds/Baileys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Someone notices Reid isn't dealing well with the recent changes within the team.  Someone else fixes it.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changes

Lewis takes the stairs slowly. Hovering by the entrance of the office door, keeping just out of sight so the occupant of said office doesn't see, she takes a second to reconsider her decision. Last thing she wants is to make Agent Hotchner think he's hired a loon, but maybe that’s just the price she has to pay if this doesn’t work out. End of the day she needs to walk in or away, hanging outside the boss’s door isn’t a productive action for anyone. 

Right.

Knock, Knock.

"Come in." Hotchner smiles upon seeing her, "How was your first case?" 

He's packing his desk, ready for home.

"It was... enlightening." Lewis smiles, making her way edgily into the office. "There is something I wanted to talk to you about though." 

Her words are rushed, yet the tone hesitant. Hotch pauses one hand half in, half out his briefcase.

"Something wrong?" Frown burrowing into his forehead he beckons her to the nearest chair.

"Well it’s not a something, more a someone." She says coyly taking the proffered seat.

Hotchner’s frown remains in place, only the tone changes from confused to searching. "Has something happened?"

"No, no everyone's been very welcoming you've got a wonderful group of people here." She smiles broadly, looking him directly in the eye. 

"But...?"

Adjusting her position, crossing one leg with other before leaning forward, "I hope you don't think I'm crossing professional boundaries, especially so early on,” Lewis pauses to gage his reaction and reading only concerned interest in his expression she continues, “but I've noticed something you may want to address sooner rather than later."

She’s aware how patronizing her voice sounds, but it’s hard to turn the doctor in her off. Even though she knows Agent Hotchner cannot be played, it's a comforting coping mechanism all the same.

"Go on," he nods looking less sure, "It's okay if you feel it's important..."

Relaxing Lewis once again sits forward, clasping both hands over her knee. "You know it's hard to stop working sometimes. You find yourself looking at things and applying theories where really you shouldn't, but once you discover something, and you know your own inaction could cause further harm, then what do you do?"

She pauses, giving Hotch an assessing glance.

Hotch stares back. Waiting. And she realizes he's never going to make it easy for her.

"What do you do?" Hotchner’s face remains rigid, slight tip of his head and airy tone the only clues he's messing with her.  
Lewis swallows, gets to her point without further delay.

"I think there's a member of your team that's not dealing with all the personnel changes as well as he's leading you to believe." Her eyes stray to the window overlooking the bullpen, gaze zeroing in on the only member who still holds a desk down there at present. 

...

Hotch tracks her gaze and sighs, understanding now the ‘who’ has become clear that by not dealing with the changes she doesn't mean in the conventional sense. He should have seen this coming. 

"How bad?" He turns back to Lewis, frown lost, replaced only by sorrow.

"In my professional opinion?" 

Hotch nods. It seems to make her feel better.

"On a scale of one to ten... eleven." Lewis laughs, a small nervous sound that in someone else would seem unfeeling.

Hotch wants to ask, but the guilt is all consuming, leaving him shifting nervously in his seat.

"Don't get me wrong,” Lewis rushes to assure, “he's done nothing overt, and certainly made me feel welcome, but I've noticed he seems a little withdrawn, putting too much effort into smiling when anyone is looking..." she trails and he nods, Aaron doesn't need her to list all the common signs of attachment syndrome for him to understand how it applies here. 

“I should have noticed.” He snorts on a sigh.

"Don't beat yourself up, the bonus about being the new face in town is that you notice everything without biased." 

Hotch grins wirily, truer words have never been spoken when it comes to Reid. "Thank you, but Spencer, he’s a little... different."  
Lewis nods, not smiling this time. "I've noticed" she tells him softly.

Hotch looks her in the eye, happy they have a mutual understanding of their youngest profiler. It’ll make it much easier to pair them in the field. They share another smile, exchange a silent agreement and Hotch quickly excuses himself.

Lewis keeps her gaze on him, tracking Hotchner out the door and down the stairs. Standing she moves over to the window for a better view. Approaching Agent Reid's desk looks almost routine, but it's not until he's right in the young doctor’s personal space that even the most discerning observer would see the surprise on his face as the unit chief of the BAU rolls over a free office chair and seats himself right next to him.

…

Reid's slouching in his chair, staring numbly at the blank computer screen in front of him. Face clouded, lips pulled tight, fingers steepled in his lap. Hotch hates seeing the emptiness in those normally very expressive eyes.  
Decision made, using the element of surprise, Hotch continues forward, grabs JJ's free chair and rolls it over next to Reid’s, dropping in to it before the daydreaming kid even notices he has company. When he does notice Reid smiles up at him in surprise, it's forced, but not so much that Hotch feels his proximity is making him uncomfortable. Studying the false expression, comparing it to other times he’s seen Reid smile, both before and since JJ left to have her baby he’s now sure Lewis is right. JJ’s maternity leave is the third major team change to occur in the last 18 months and Reid's trying to hide his feelings about it, most likely so they don't worry about him. The kid needs to learn that no matter what, they'll always worry about him. Hotch thinks now is as good a time as any.

Still looking on from the window Lewis' heart near stops when she sees Reid jump, then quickly force a smile to his youthful face, but as Hotch starts talking, one hand gripping a boney shoulder, then knee, she watches the boy's expression change with whatever words are being said. Neither one looks her way, which means Hotch hasn't outed her as the source and although he's tense at first, Reid goes from embarrassed to dejected to bashful all within minutes, eventually he ducks his head and breaks into a shy smile. A genuine one judging by the matching smile on Agent Hotchner's face. Before long the tense shoulders drop and the pair are laughing together at something only they appear to understand. 

She wasn't planning on getting too deep into who held what role in this team, but one thing has become clear without her even trying - the young doctor is definitely the 'golden child' of this strange, but loveable little group.

Feeling happy that her advice didn't backfire, for if she can help bring that kind of a smile to someone's face each day then the job is certainly worth the long hours and risks they take. Seeing Morgan walking in on the scene looking confused, almost taking a step back, but then striding over with a wide smile further confirms her belief she made the right call. Satisfied Lewis steps away from the window. She's not going to insert herself into the group dynamic tonight. There will be plenty of time for that later. Right now the current members need to focus on one of their own. 

Walking down the stairs, bag slung over her shoulder she tries to stay under the radar, but catches Hotch's eye all the same. Morgan draws Reid's attention and he looks over at her with a pleased smile and clipped nod. Acknowledging the thanks, she dips her chin and smiles back before slipping otherwise unnoticed out the door. 

Safely in the elevator Lewis catches her smile reflected in the grey metal doors. Yes, sir, her first case has gone just fine.


End file.
